Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid TSR Volume One
Hawkeye
Mithril is an elite group of fighters that utilize advanced technology that’s years ahead of other countries as sort of freelance peace keepers. However, they soon discover that they are not the only ones with powerful precise mechs, as another group has emerged threatening to not only destroy Mithril’s Special Response Team, but also to throw the world into war.
The story primarily focuses around Sousuke Sagara, an undercover high school student who happens to be one of the best mech pilots in the Mithril Special Response Team. In the first volume of this series, he’s assigned to launch an attack against rebel forces, participate in a battle royal to save hostages and protect a young girl at his school who is a “Whispered”–someone who hears voices that describe the advanced technology of Mithril. He also comes face to face with a mech from his past, and an enemy among Mithril’s workers is unveiled.
I never watched the first Full Metal Panic nor the second, this series is the 3rd Full Metal Panic series to be turned into an anime. Even without the entire backstory from the previous series I didn’t feel lost at all. The show explained things as it went, from the mech to who people were, but it was incorporated into the series itself with new plot lines, so even old fans won’t be bored with the re-introductions. The character personalities themselves seem to be a bit over the top, and were a little too rigid in their design. For example, the military guy is in constant military mode even at school. It was still enjoyable to watch even if a bit extreme.
The artwork was fantastic and creative. I really liked the animation on the mechs, they moved mechanically but still had an organic feeling to them. The character designs were creative and unique as well. I have to applaud the attention to detail in all the technology in the series as well as the realistic backgrounds. The sound was also very good in everything from excellent voice acting to great sound effects.
The special features on this disc were priceless and very entertaining. They include two little videos narrated by the creator of the story and the director of the anime. The first one is of the two guys and some other staff going to the tour of a Japanese Self- Defense Force. To sum it up, there were lots of tanks, and a lot of footage of geeks essentially at a gun show. The commentary was what made it though, there was about 20 percent talking about the show and how they were researching different weapons for the anime and about 80 percent of them going “We look like total tourists on camera. ” and “Why don’t they fire live ammo? OMG the dust there was so bad we were going to suffocate” followed by scenes of them looking horrible on camera and choking on dust. It was awesome. The other video is of the group going to Hong Kong for location footage. Let’s just say that one started out with footage of them flailing around drunk with the commentary being monkey sounds. Best extras ever.
In short, this series is full of action, fun, and seems like it’ll have plot development as well as one shots here and there throughout the series. It was fun to watch and personally I’d watch the future volumes, not to mention every single extra they tossed on the discs.
Entertainment: 8
It was fun with good story lines and interesting characters.
Technical: 10
Best extras ever.
Overall: 9
DVD Features: Episodes 1-4, English, Japanese with English Subtitles
DVD Extras: Bonus Episode 000, Audio Commentaries Ep. 1-4, Tour at Japanese Self Defense Force, Location Scouting in Hong Kong Part 1, Dawn of Light Novel
